Creamer, Eagles fall to Mohigans

August 26, 2012

HEDGESVILLE - Hedgesville goalkeeper Bianca Creamer played in a way that the defending state champion Morgantown Mohigans did not expect, including a save where she caught the ball, attempted to throw it out and then recover to clear the ball.

"She's an athlete," Morgantown coach Ashley Neal said of Creamer. "We had to paint the corners against her, and I loved the circus save she made as we had made our adjustments.

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Creamer held serve valiantly on defense, but the Mohigans controlled the ball as Sydney Lavengood led all Morgantown scorers with a pair of goals in a 4-0 shutout at Mumaw Stadium Saturday.

"A lot of our game and a part of the game of soccer is possessing the ball," Neal said. "We tried to do what we can in doing just that. The offense did exactly what we wanted to do."

The Mohigans set the pace in the fifth minute of play as Mazie Cheesebrough scored a goal on a direct free kick that bounced off a Hedgesville defender into the back of the net.

Lavenbrough added a goal with 25:32 left to play in the opening half to give Morgantown a 2-0 lead.

"We tried to wait until they made a mistake and go for the double team," Hedgesville coach Mallory Geesaman said.

"They were able to push the ball through our defense rather than dribbling the ball against them, which made them very fast and aggressive."

Morgantown continued to control the ball and fire off shot after shot. However, Creamer kept stopping them to keep the Morgantown advantage at two.

"Bianca is our hero," Geesaman said. "She's a basketball player, so she has quick hands and knows the game even though she is completely new to the sport of soccer."

As Creamer continued to stop Morgantown shots, the Mohigans kept firing, scoring two more goals in the second half.

In the 60th minute, Korina Collins scored a goal on a rebound that got past a charging Creamer to place Morgantown with a 3-0 lead before Lavengood found the back of the net for a second time on a breakaway with 11:38 to play in the match.

"We put Sydney (Lavengood) up top today because of her great speed," Neal said.

"She found the net when she was able to break free from the defense, which felt great for her."

Hedgesville returns to action this week with three games.

The Eagles have a sectional contest at home against Musselman on Tuesday night, then play at St. James on Thursday and at Phillip?Barbour on Saturday afternoon.

Hedgesville fell to 1-2 on the season, while Morgantown remained undefeated at 4-0.